Wow, until reading this thread I didn't even know I should be regulating humidity and so forth. I've just been storing my tea on a shelf. That explains why the older cakes have been getting a bit flat! Does anyone have any recommended reading on how to set up something like all y'all have? Or maybe a recommendation for a really basic setup (like a plastic tub)? I only have a couple cakes. I'm not really into aging at the moment, just wanting to keep the cakes from drying out/getting flat.

Edit: I drink all my pu erh fairly regularly, maybe 2-3x per week. Would opening a container that often be bad for it or should I open it every day because air circulation? Am thinking maybe a plastic tub like gatmcm is using would work for me (cheap). Also, I live near Seattle, and my house is kept at 68-70F typically.

The main reason I am doing this is not so much for aging, but to keep the tea from drying out, becoming flat, etc. over time. While I use/drink all of my tea now, it may be a year+ before finishing. I also plan to buy a several cakes if this storage works out so they could be sitting around for well over a year.

I tried the zip lock bag for each cake, but the room smelled like plastic especially if I opened the window on a nice day which was weird. I then did the clay / ceramic canisters which meant I had to break up a cake to fit it in. And anything larger than 200-250g would not all fit in one canister. Now I'm looking into something where I dont have to break up the cakes and can use humidity packs.

I've read some sort of protection like a ziplock bag, plastic tub, etc. is good and you dont really need humidity packs. Dont worry about opening the container everyday. I would look into a minimalist effort in your case, but I am no expert.....newbie really.

I store my pu in big stock pots with bovedas. The boveda outside in the pic is just an extra one, ignore it. But I wanted to show a storage method I invented that is very cheap and simple. It's just an aluminum pie tin and a boveda pack. I don't know why nobody has thought of this as it is plastic and odor-free.

Not pictured is a smaller pot with shou, another pot with dayi, a pie tin filled with aged samples (just so humidity doesn't seep out of the bags), and a pie tin with no boveda for questionable pu that I don't want interacting with the good stuff.

I saw this looking for something else on here. I'm a bit lucky related to climate for storing pu'er because I live in Bangkok, and it's always warm and humid here.

Per what I've ran across too much humidity is possible but it would have to be really wet out for that to come up; someone would have to live in a swamp or damp jungle. Dry conditions are a lot more of an issue.

My own storage arrangement is nothing to learn from; people here who have put more thought and effort into that would serve as a better reference.

I did write a blog post about what the difference is between relative humidity and the absolute amount of moisture in the air (proportion), since that comes up, and covered what climate is like in some main storage regions (HK, Malaysia, Kunming):

I found these at Target for $9. I picked up 2 of them to see how they do. I like the sealing strip to keep humidity in.

12 hours later ... they smell like plastic once I put some humidity in them

I have this problem with a minifridge wine cooler I bought off craigslist. Maybe they can add humidity, air out, repeat?

Place it out in the sun for a few days. I've heard of others scrubbing the inside with a mix of baking soda and water, then rinsing. Also, just placing baking soda inside, no water, to absorb aromas. Honestly, target might not have the highest quality bins. I know people that use food safe plastic storage bins, can probably find some online. I use a cooler bought in person. I smell all the coolers, likely looking odd , to find the one with the least smell then air them out for a while in the sun, atleast a few days if not weeks.

I smell all the coolers, likely looking odd , to find the one with the least smell then air them out for a while in the sun, atleast a few days if not weeks.

I was doing the same and thinking the same last night in Target. I was also thinking that if someone stopped and asked what I was doing, my explanation would have left them equally confused. I've realized it's easier to understand than to be understood when it come to tea.

At present, I'm aging tea in cartons and tongs, but eventually I transfer cakes to plastic zip-top bags with cotton on the outside. This makes the tea much more aromatic after the first two years or so of natural decomposition, and also stops the loss of aromatics into the atmosphere. There is still some air exchange through the seal on the bag. I've found this to be the best method for me after aging a lot of different tea (sheng and shu) in my natural environment here in Hong Kong. At present I have around 300kg of pu aging away.

Certain teas get more time: Xiaguan Teji and Jiaji and T8653 cakes are tightly compressed, so I let them do their thing. I still find aromatics rebound when I place these teas into the cotton/plastic zipper bags, so when I feel the teas are ready, into bags they go!

I found these at Target for $9. I picked up 2 of them to see how they do. I like the sealing strip to keep humidity in.

12 hours later ... they smell like plastic once I put some humidity in them

I have this problem with a minifridge wine cooler I bought off craigslist. Maybe they can add humidity, air out, repeat?

Place it out in the sun for a few days. I've heard of others scrubbing the inside with a mix of baking soda and water, then rinsing. Also, just placing baking soda inside, no water, to absorb aromas. Honestly, target might not have the highest quality bins. I know people that use food safe plastic storage bins, can probably find some online. I use a cooler bought in person. I smell all the coolers, likely looking odd , to find the one with the least smell then air them out for a while in the sun, atleast a few days if not weeks.

I got a few Sistema Klip It containers, washed with hot water and unscented soap, and sat in the sun for 1-2 days and I no longer detect plastic smell. I have 3 of the 7 liter size which may be enough (one for young sheng, one for aged, and one for ripe). I see they have a 9.6 liter size but a local store didnt have that one.